Filament winding apparatus



Oct. 4, 1966 E. c. UHLIG ET AL FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS 2 Sheets$heet Original Filed June 15, 1960 v m m H mk m N NZMKM R E; 0 W0 Q A Z 0 am A H Y B Oct. 4, 1966 c, UHL|G ET AL FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 15. 1960 IN V EN TORS w-T/msra/v KIA/6 mswoza c. Isa/Pawns ATTORNEY United States Patent M This invention relates to apparatus for winding filament-wound structures which are used chiefly as pressure vessels.

This application is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 36,396, filed June 15, 1960, now Patent No. 3,144,952.

Filament-wound structures comprising glass filament windings and epoxy resin binders are known and used today, and are described in United States Letters PatentNo.

2,843,153 granted July 15, 1958, and in three articles entitled History and Potential of Filament Winding, Development of Improved Filament-wound Pressure Vessels a Study of Filament-winding Variable and Filamentwinding Developments appearing in the preprint book of the thirteenth Annual Technical & Management Conference, Reinforced Plastics Division, Society of the Plastics Industry at Chicago, Illinois, February 4, 1958 (Society of the Plastics Industry, 250 Park Avenue, New York, New York) at Section l5-C, pages 1 through 6, Section l5-B, pages 1 through 8 and Section 15-D, pages 1 through 10, respectively.

The instant invention relates to apparatus for winding such structures chiefly used as pressure vessels, that have elongated bodies and at least one bulging end.

Prior to applicants filament-wound structure invention, these bulging end structures were formed by winding the filaments on helical paths around the elongated body portion as disclosed in the aforesaid patent and the first of said articles, so the windings formed a mesh in which the individual windings were disposed at an angle with each other where they crossed. The arrangement selected was that intended to place the windings solely in tension when the structure was internally pressurized, and consequently the well-known hose equilibrium angle of 5444, see page 11, Goodyear Handbook of Hose, (May 1, 1934) between the windings and an axial plane through the crossing point was used in winding the structure.

Applicants filament-wound structure invention provides an improved structure by using, instead of helical windings, windings of two different types. The first type, which will be called girt windings herein, are known in the art and have been referred to as. circular windings, see Section l5-C, page 5, FIG. 4 of the first cited article, but the term girth Winding has been selected in this application and the appended claims to designate these windings because the filament path in the winding is substantially a helix with adjacent turns of the filament strand touching each other. The girth windings are employed primarily to give the structure strength to resist hoop rupture in the elongated body portion.

The second type of winding has not been used heretofore in these elongated structures. These windings extend over the structure as what are referred to herein as great circular windings and are referred to in the appended claims as end windings. A great circular winding is one which lies along a path that passes over both ends and the elongated body portion of the structure, yet does not cross itself during one complete circuit, and forms, by bounding, a sectional surface through the Patented Oct. 4, 1966 structure, hereinafter called the surface of the winding, which intersects the longitudinal axis of the structure only once. It will become apparent as this description proceeds that in most of the practical structures each great circular winding will not bound a true plane, for if it did one complete circuit would bring the winding back precisely to the beginning point on the surface of the structure, and it is desirable that one complete circuit bring the winding back adjacent to, or spaced a little distance from, the beginning point, so succeeding windings will develop a hollow three-dimensional body. The deviation of the surface of the winding from a true plane, as will be pointed out hereinafter, can be the result of a continuous gradual deviation throughout the circuit of the individual winding, or it can result from a slight alteration in the path of that circuit which takes place in only one part of the circuit.

According to applicants filament-wound structure invention, the great circular windings must be located so that the surface of the winding intersects each of the ends, i.e., the path of the winding extends over both the ends, in each circuit around the structure, and the winding forms an angle at each point on the elongated body portion with the line formed on the surface of the structure by an axial plane thereof through the point of measurement which angle is less than the angle whose tangent is one-half the quotient of the circumference of the body portion divided by the length of the body portion.

By employing these two types of windings, greater flexibility in design in terms of strength to weight ratio at various parts of the structure is possible, more efficient winding patterns over the ends may be obtained, and substantially all parts of the structure may be wound at constant and materially higher tension in the winding strand that was used heretofore.

The invention claimed in this application contemplates .a means designed to apply these windings in an efficient and economical manner in which a girth winder, a great circular winder carried on an orbital track, and means for moving the form on which the structure is to be wound are combined.

These and other features of the invention will in part be more fully pointed out in, and will in part be apparent from, the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof and the appended claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a filamentwound structure embodying applicants filament-wound structure invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the curing of the structure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevation illustrating winding apparatus according .to this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

The filament-Wound structure 10 illustrated in the drawing is a hollow structure in which the walls are formed substantially entirely of filaments and a binder. Filaments of various materials can be used to produce this structure. For example, ceramic filaments, steel wire, etc., can be used. And various binders can be used. For example, plastic binders can be used. But today the filaments most commonly employed are glass filaments, and the binder most commonly employed is an epoxy resin.

The structure 10 includes an elongated cylindrical body portion 11 and two bulging, ovaloid ends 12 and 13. A pair of annular axial, or polar, fittings 14, 15 give access to the interior of the structure through the ends 12, 13 respectively. The structure can be made in various sizes,

and in the embodiment illustrated the diameter of the cylindrical body portion equals approximately one-half the overall length of the structure between end fittings.

As will become apparent hereinafter, this structure is produced by winding strands of continuous glass filaments impregnated with the binder resin onto a form, and the arrangement and manner in which these windings are wound into the structure are important elements of the applicants filament-wound structure invention. In FIGS. 1 and 2 only a few of these windings are segregated, so the invention may be illustrated clearly.

One embodiment of the structure is produced by first completely covering a form, except for the openings for the end fittings 14, 15, by a multiplicity of great circular windings, two of which are designated by the reference characters 16 and 17 respectively. In FIG. 1 only those portions of these windings appear which lie in the-part of structure visible in this figure. In FIG. 2 those portions of each of windings 16 and 17"which pass over the end 13 appear in shadow line, but that part of winding 16 which passes over the end 13 is indicated by the reference character 16 in this figure, and that part of winding 17 which passes over end 13 is indicated by the reference character 17 in this figure.

As will be apparent from FIG. 2, winding 16 at one point is substantially tangent to a circle 18 on end 12; circle 18 might be considered the outer periphery of fitting 14 although this need not necessarily be the case. If winding 16 be considered to start at this point of tangency it will progress downwardly as seen in FIG. 2 (toward the observer as seen in FIG. 1) over the ovaloid end 12 and to the cylindrical body part 11 of the structure. 'At that surface of the body part 11 which is exposed to view in FIG. 1 the winding passes downwardly such that it forms an angle at each point on the elongated body part with the line formed on the surface of that part by a plane, axial of the form and through the point of measurement which angle is less than the angle whose tangent is one-half the quotient of the circumference of the cylindrical body part divided by the length of that body part. The aforementioned line will appear as a vertical line-in FIG. 1, and the angle referred to is the acute angle between such a line and the winding at the point of measurement.

The winding 16 then passes across the ovaloid end 13 in a length 16, which as appears in FIG. 2 is tangent to the projection of circle 18 at that end of the structure, but length 16' is disposed tangent to the projection of circle 18 at a nearly diametrically opposed point from the point of tangency of the length of winding 16 that lies on the end 12. Consequently, a surface bounded by this winding would intersect the axis of the structure.

From end 13 winding 16 then passes again to the cylindrical body part 11 on the side hidden from view in FIG. 1 and passes to the ovaloid end 12 in a length that lies on the body part 11 at an angle in the range described above for the angle formed by the length on the surface of the cylindrical body portion 11 that is exposed to view in FIG. 1. It then passes over ovaloid end 12 to a point of tangency with circle 18 that is close to, but is spaced a little distance on the surface of the structure from, the first mentioned point of tangency of the winding 16 with thiscircle. The winding then continues in nearly a plane tangent to circle 18 at the last point of tangency until it reaches a crossover point with the previous length of winding 16 at which point a complete circuit of the structure might be considered 'to be completed, and a new substantially parallel with their edges touching, or slightly lapped, in the lengths of each of these windings that lie along the cylindrical body partll. In this way the winding proceeds with each succeeding winding advanced from the previous winding around the circumference of the cylindrical body portion a distance equal to the width of the winding strand.

Each winding in one complete circuit, that might be thought to commence and end at the crossover point, defines, by bounding, a surface, i.e., the surface of the winding, which is very nearly a sectional plane that passes through the axis of structure 10 only once.

To produce a closed structure, there should be at least one layer of great circular windings in that structure whose angle, as, above defined, at the cylindrical body portion is equal to the angle Whose tangent is equal to, or less than, one-half of the quotient of the circumference of .the smallest axial opening desired through the end of the structure divided by the overall length of the structure. A first winding is placed on the structure at this angle, and succeeding windings are placed on the structure at the same angle, but along the preceding winding.

If an open mesh structure is desired, as frequently is the case for a subsequent winding in a multi-layer structure, the lead distance between subsequent windingscan be made greater than the 'width of the filament strand. This will result in an open mesh structure after one complete traverse around the circumference of the cylindrical body part which traverse would entail a number of great circular windings.

The angle of the great circular windings can bevaried, within the limits stated herein, as' needed or desired to produce a structure having the strength and other characteristics needed. In general the angles which will be used will fall within the lower, rather than the higher, part of the range. For any structure other thana relatively short, large diameter structure, such asone whose lengthis about the same as its diameter, this angle will not be above about 30, and angles of about 5 to 20 will be most frequently employed with good results.

It is a characteristic of structures wound according to applicants filament-wound structure invention that when a substantially constant angle is employed at the cylindrical body part and. a steady progression is maintained over the ovaloid ends, each succeeding great circular winding crosses the previous great circular winding only at the completion of the winding at the bulging ends, and the pattern of crossing of succeeding windings forms a circle whose center is the longitudinal axis of the structure. One such circle has been illustrated and is designated bythe reference character 18.1 The closestapproach of succeeding windings to the longitudinal axis of the structure as the windings pass over the bulging ends is substantially constant for each succeeding winding under these conditions, and the distance is a function of the winding angle and the axial projection of the bulging end.

When a different angle is selected, for example, in succeeding windings in a multi-layer structure, such as the winding illustrated at 20 and 20' in FIG. 2, the winding as it passes over the bulging ends 12, 13.will be spaced a different distance from the axis of thestructure, and the pattern of overlap will form a second circle, similar to circle 18, such as that designated at 21 whose center again is the longitudinal axis of the structurebut the diameter of the new circle will varydirectly. withthe angle. It will be apparent therefore that the great circular windings may be made to approach as near the axis of the structure as desired without deviating 'from the path of great circular windings by the simple expedient of varying the angle of the winding. Further, at any distance from the longitudinal axis of the structure, the ovaloid ends can be reinforced by winding great circular windings at an appropriate angle.

The great circular windings can be applied from a carriage orbiting about the structure, and the windings may therefore be applied at constant tension without loss of tension as the winding is wrapped over the bulging ends. It is desirable, and possible, using this invention that relatively high winding tensions be employed for these great circular windings as well as for the girth windings. Generally, tensions equivalent to tensions in excess of 10,000 psi. on the filament will be used, and prefera'bly tensions equivalent to tensions of 18,000 psi. or more will be used. These high tensions should be maintained throughout the winding operation.

In addition to the great circular windings, the cylindrical body portion 11 is wound with girth windings such as that illustrated at 22 which lie along a helix. Preferably this helix has a pitch such that each succeeding turn of the girth winding touches the next preceding turn, so the number of girth windings to completely cover the cylindrical body portion will equal approximately the length of the cylindrical body portion divided by the width of the winding strand.

In the structure heretofore described, the great circular windings give the structure strength to resist substantially the expansive axial loads, and the girth windings give the structure strength to resist substantially the hoop stresses.

As further illustrating applicants filament-wound structure invention, the following structure is given.

A filament strand in ribbon-like form, composed of three sub-strands of twelve ends each of type ECG-150 glass filaments, generally referred to as 150s yarn [see man-made textile encyclopedia, pages 327, 328 (Textile Book Publishers, Inc., Division of Inter-Science Publishers, Inc., New York, New York, 1959)] is used in winding the structure. This ribbon is approximately wide and each of the 36 ends in it is made up of 204 filaments of glass each approximately .00038" in diameter. This ribbon was impregnated with a compatible glass type epoxy resin and led to a building form under 15 pounds tension, i.e., the equivalent of 18,000 pounds p.s.i. tension on the filaments. Great circular windings were commenced in which the angle above referred to on the cylindrical body part was maintained at 8. Sufficient great circular windings were applied to the form to completely cover the same, except for the end openings, and to build a structure whose overall length from end to end was approximately twice the diameter of the cylindrical body portion and the length of whose cylindrical body portion is about /3 longer than its diameter. A second group of great circular windings was applied at angle of 26/2", and sufiicient windings were applied at this angle to make one complete revolution of the periphcry of the cylindrical body part.

Girth windings were next applied to the cylindrical body part 10 using the same type of winding ribbon and resin. Sufficient girth windings were applied to completely cover the cylindrical body part of the form from end to end of this part with windings laid side-by-side. A tension of pounds was maintained on the ribbon of 36 ends throughout the girth winding operation.

The thus formed structure, still on the building form, was enclosed within a bag 24 of suitable impermeable material, e.g., butyl rubber. A vacuum hose 25 was connected between the underside of the bag and a vacuum source (not shown), and the bag was evacuated to delete air from the space between the bag and the structure. Steam under 50 pounds pressure was admitted to the atmosphere surrounding the bag in autoclave 26 and the structure was maintained under this steam pressure for four hours to cure the resin.

The use of the bag or blanket 24 in conjunction with a pressure cure is advantageous in producing a dense structure of improved strength.

Apparatus suitable for producing the structures according to applicants filament-wound structure invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. This apparatus comprises a building form 27 on which the structure is to be wound. Form 27 is removably carried on a shaft 28 which extends axially of the form. Shaft 28 in turn is supported for rotation about its own axis. This structure may comprise, for example, a cross'axle 19 disposed at right angles to shaft 28 and having a hole therethrough in which shaft 28 is journaled. This cross-axle is normal to the plane of the paper as seen in FIG. 4 and would be rotatable about its own axis so the shaft 28 and form 27 could be rotated thereby to the position shown in broken line. Means (not shown), for example, a sprocket on the cross-axle driven by a chain from a sprocket on a motor axle, would be provided to rotate form 27 and shaft 28 about the axis of the cross-axle 19 to the full line position or the broken line position shown in FIG. 4 or to positions in between these two, or beyond the broken line position, as desired. Means (not shown), such as a motor supported on the cross-axle 19 with a pinion meshing with a gear fixed to shaft 28, can be provided and the motor driven, continuously or intermittently, to rotate form 27 about the axis of shaft 28 as desired. Preferably form 27 would be rotated intermittently, or be indexed, only when the great circular winding is being applied to one bulging end. Means such as a pair of uprights 50 could support the cross-axle in bearings 51.

An open platform 29 is supported for vertical movement with respect to the building form 27 as indicated by the arrows adjacent platform 29 in FIG. 4. For example, platform 29 may be carried on heads 30 of jacks (not shown) which can be actuated to position the level of platform 29 at the extreme up-and-down position of the left-hand end circle of the cylindrical body part of form 27. This platform 29 has a central opening surrounding the position of building form 27 and this opening is closed, in part, by a template 31. Template 31 in turn has a central opening that is bounded by a rail or track 32, which surrounds the building form 27 and is spaced a little distance therefrom as appears in FIG. 5. This rail 32 carries a carriage 33 for spools of the glass filaments and a resin impregnator for these filaments. The ribbon 34 of glass filaments impregnated with epoxy resin is led under tension imposed by tensioners on carriage 33 to building form 27. Means are provided for advancing the carriage 33 about the building form 27 on rail 32 in an orbital path defined by the rail 32 to apply the great circular windings.

These great circular windings are applied by first tipping the building form 27 so that its axis forms the angle, with the plane of template 31, desired within the limits described above. Then carriage 33 is traversed about orbital track 32. If desired form 27 may be rotated about the axis of shaft 28 continuously as carriage 33 travels continuously on rail 32 with the speed of the carriage 33 on rail 32 and the rotational speed of form 27 adjusted to produce the desired winding angle. In this event a winding angle would result which is slightly different from the angle between the axis of form 27 and template 31. Alternatively, and in accordance with the now preferred method, after the form was tipped to the desired angle, the form would be maintained stationary and carriage 33 would make one complete circuit of rail 32. As carriage 33 was winding ribbon on one of the bulging ovaloids ends, the form 27 would be rotated a little angular distance about its axis, or 'be indexed, and would then be held stationary while carriage 33 completed a second circuit of rail 32. In this manner the winding would proceed until all of the desired windings at that angle had been applied, after which building form 27 could be tipped to a new angle and additional windings applied at that new angle as desired.

Platform 29 carries rails 35 that extend along the length of the building form 27 and parallel to the axis of shaft 28. A girth winding carriage 36 similarly is carried on these rails 35. Girth winding carriage 36 is similar to great circular winding carriage 33; and a ribbon 34 of epoxy resin impregnated glass filaments can be led from carriage 36 to the building form 27. To apply girth windings, building form 27 is positioned in the full line position of FIG. 4 and rotated about the axis of shaft 28. At the same time carriage 36 is traversed along rails 35 opposite the cylindrical body part of form 27 at such a rate relative to the rotational speed of form 27 to apply the girth windings with the desired spacing, and preferably to apply these girth windings with succeeding windings touching the preceding winding.

The means to traverse carriage 33 may comprise a chain 52 surrounding and generally parallel to rail 32 and spaced outwardly therefrom on a series of idler sprockets 53 carried on shafts normal to template 31. An arm 54 couples carriage 33 to this chain, and one or more sprockets 55 on which the chain is trained is fixed to a shaft 56 that fixedly carries a second sprocket on which a second chain 57 is trained that in turn is trained on the drive sprocket 58 of a motor 59 carried, for example, beneath platform 29. Similarly, carriage 36 could be fixed to a chain 60 trained on sprockets 61, 62 at each end of rail 35 with one of the sprockets 62 driven by the output of a reversing motor 63.

The bulging ends may be reinforced by using a great circular winding technique as, for example, by winding great circular windings on the building form, tying these windings down by a few girth windings near the end or ends of the cylindrical body part, and then cutting away the remainder of the great circular windings which extend over the cylindrical body part. Such reinforcing end windings can be applied to one or both ends, .as is obvious,

and can be combined, as desired, with various patterns of additional complete great circular windings and girth windings.

Further, the great circular windings need not always be the balanced windings shown in the drawings, i.e., the position of the orbital track may be changed so the circle formed by the windings, such as 18, on one end of the structure has a larger diameter than the circle formed by the same windings on the other end of the structure.

Templates 31 having various sized openings adapted to accommodate building forms of various sizes may be provided, and thereby apparatus adapted to produce structures of various sizes may be provided. When a different size structure is to be produced, the old template can be removed from platform 29 and a new template of appropriate size can be placed in this platform. For this reason also rails 35 should be long enough to accommodate the longest structure is is desired to produce, and desirably these rails may be long enough to apply helical windings over both the cylindrical body part and the bulging ends, so that windings of the type disclosed in the aforesaid patent and the first of the aforesaid articles can be applied by the apparatus should that be desired Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire, to protect by Letters Patent'is:

1. Apparatus for winding filament wound structures which comprises, a building form, means supporting the building form for rotation about its own axis, means supends of the building, form when said building form is positioned in a given position with respect to said axis.

2. Apparatus adapted to wind filament wound structures comprising an axle adapted to support abuilding form on which the structure is to be wound, means for rotating said axle about its own axis, means for rotating said axle about a second axis passing through the axis of the axle at substantially right angles thereto, a track parallel to said axle, a carriage on said track containing a supply of filaments, means for impregnating said filaments with a liquid heat-hardenable binder, means for leading said impregnated filaments from said carriage toward said axle, means for traversing said carriage along said track throughout the length of that portion of the building form to be wound from said carriage, a platform generally parallel to the axis of said axle when said axle is in a given position, said platform carrying a track positioned to surround the building form when the building form is on said axle,

means for raising and lowering said platform with respect I to said axle, a carriage containing a supply of filaments supported on said last mentioned track, means for impregnating said filaments with a liquid heat hardenable resin, means for rotating said axle about said second axis so that said axle intersects the plane formed by said platform, and means for advancing the carriage about said last mentioned track on said platform.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein both said tracks are supported on said platform, and wherein said last mentioned track is carried by a template removably supported on said platform.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,518,967 8/1950 Witt 156-397 2,858,992 11/1958 Wentz 242-2 3,047,191 7/ 1962 Young 22083 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

J. P. MELOCHE, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,276,936 October 4, 1966 Column 8, line 16, for "with respect to said axis" read with respect to said second axis Signed and sealed this 5th day of September 1967,,

Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commisioner of Patents 

2. APPARATUS ADAPTED TO WIND FILAMENT WOUND STRUCTURES COMPRISING AN AXLE ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A BUILDING FORM ON WHICH THE STRUCTURE IS TO BE WOUND, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID AXLE ABOUT ITS OWN AXIS, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID AXLE ABOUT A SECOND AXIS PASSING THROUGH THE AXIS OF THE AXLE AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, A TRACK PARALLEL TO SAID AXLE, A CARRIAGE ON SAID TRACK CONTAINING A SUPPLY OF FILAMENTS, MEANS FOR IMPREGNATING SAID FILMENTS WITH A LIQUID HEAT-HARDENABLE BINDER, MEANS FOR LEADING SAID IMPREGNATED FILAMENTS FROM SAID CARRIAGE TOWARD SAID AXLE, MEANS FOR TRAVERSING SAID CARRIAGE ALONG SAID TRACK THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH OF THAT PORTION OF THE BUILDING FORM TO BE WOUND FROM SAID CARRIAGE, A PLATFORM GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID AXLE WHEN SAID AXLE IS IN A GIVEN POSITION, SAID PLATFORM CARRYING A TRACK POSITIONED TO SURROUND THE BUILDING FORM WHEN THE BUILDING FORM IS ON SAID AXLE, MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING SAID PLATFORM WITH RESPECT TO SAID AXLE, A CARRIAGE CONTAINING A SUPPLY OF FILAMENTS SUPPORT ON SAID LAST MENTIONED TRACKS, MEANS FOR IMPREGNATING SAID FILMENTS WITH A LIQUID HEAT HARDENABLE RESIN, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID AXLE ABOUT SAID SECOND AXIS SO THAT SAID AXLE INTERSECTS THE PLANE FORMED BY SAID PLATFORM, AND MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE CARRIAGE ABOUT SAID LAST MENTIONED TRACK ON SAID PLATFORM. 